I'm picking about 2 pails full of maters, and not all are the cherry ones either, I've been picking them before they get all red, if not the bugs beat me to them and I can't have that, they finish reddening up in the window sill, which all those are full now too. LOL

gessie violet: I placed the EBs too close together, and the buckets aren't too close together, they are fine. Next year though, I'm not growing as many tomatoes, they've kept me really busy and I'd like to try something different. Has anyone tried raspberries, blackberries, grapes or anything like that in 5 gallon buckets and EBs?

That's your daily harvest? Yikes. Time to put an ad on craigslist selling heirlooms. That Burpee Porthouse looks great. Much like my fave, Costoluto Genovese. What are the round peppers in the bowl on the left?

Actually, that's okra and one bell pepper. My peppers aren't ripening up yet, nor my okra, of course, it's still early. My brandywines aren't very large either; but were the last to be planted. I've had this brown bug I've been keeping an eye on lately, don't know for sure if it's a stink bug or soldier bug, the soldier bug is a good bug, so ... Costoluto Genovese I haven't tried yet; but hear it is another huge favorite out there, I do prefer the large ones. My FL Highbush and Black Beauty are the ones producing the most eggplants, haven't gotten any lavender touch ones yet. Almost time to get the women here for the canning lesson I want to take this year. My favorite is rapidly becoming the Burpee's Porterhouse for sure.
joy

Okra. Maybe if I grow it I'll find a way to like it. It's just so slippery.
Actually, what I was asking about were the round things in that same bowl...which after looking at the photo again are, big surprise, tomatoes not peppers. I thought they might be these sweet little pimento jobbies- jobbieshttp://www.territorialseed.com/product/11620/339
I'm growing some (supposed a patented variety whose name illudes me) but they haven't cranked out anything other than aphids. I thought bugs weren't fond of peppers! Not here.
No brown bugs per se, but plenty of caterpillars of assorted sizes and appetites. I'm rapidly approaching the time of year I'm happy to just have leaves on the tomatoes and keep taking cuttings to get a head start on the fall. The bugs are even feasting on the grape tomatoes. This gardening stuff is a lot of work.

Beaver,
Okra only gets slimy when water hits the musilage (the white pithy parts) inside it. If you want to take the slime out keep it dry before you cut it up.

When I use it for okra gumbo or stewed okra and want to keep the slime out, I cut it up into 1/2" to 3/4" slices. Pour a little vinegar (a couple splashes) and some cooking oil (to coat the pieces lightly) over the sliced okra, and mix it all together to coat each piece Run it through the oven on an aluminum foil lined pan (so the okra doesn't stick), stirring constantly and keeping a close eye so they don't burn. Coat that pan with a little more oil if necessary.

Once the okra is browned lightly, you can proceed to add it to your gumbo recipe or add some sauteed, diced onions, bell peppers, and garlic, stewed tomatoes and some tomato sauce. Season to taste and drop in some spicy diced link sausage. Simmer on low heat for awhile, til the okra is cooked down some but still just a tiny bit firm. Don't get concerned if the okra starts to break down. It's all good. Add some peeled, deveined shimp at the last ten minutes of cooking the okra down. Season to taste with some Season All Brand Seasoning, Garlic & Onion Powder, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 1-2 tsps. granulated sugar, and Splash some Louisiana hot sauce in there, too!

Serve hot over a bed of fluffy white rice (I have a recipe posted for cooking a proper pot of FLUFFY, WHITE rice!) Enjoy!

Yum, Gymgirl you have got to be a fantastic cook! Tomato gravy this week, yummy. Cook some bacon, save the bacon drippings and brown some flour and add pepper and salt in it then stir in pureed tomatoes, adding just a touch of water, stirring to the consistency of gravy, serve over mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, fried eggplant, pork chops or fried green tomatoes. LOL
I don't have problems with the horned catepillars, my birds must be picking them off before they get big enough to do anything, as I've been looking for them, yes the tomatoes you are talking about are the romas and the health kick tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, I keep in a seperate bowl from the bigger ones.

I use pine bark mulch as it costs $2.00 per bag and goes a long way but as time goes by I just add some to replace the erosion of some of the mulch. I'd love to use the professional heavy plastic that nursery people use but Home Depot wants $6.00 a running foot which is six feet wide but just can't swing it. It would be excellent for Joy as it can be cut to three feet wide and make a good permanent aisle.

TPlant: I bought a huge roll of black bisqueen at Ace Hardware, for around $40; and of course have the remains of a huge swimming pool, it will go under the entire garden setup and should prevent any weeding or bugs, hopefully, I will of course recover with more more mulch before setting down my self dripper system again. I have some minor improvements to do on the wooden set up I used also, I want to enclose it so that the HEBs and EBs are off the ground, and no weeds growing close to them, hopefully, that will discourage some bugs right? LOL
joy